TheCable

Osaze Osemwengie-Ero, former Edo commissioner for arts, culture, tourism and diaspora affairs, says he will lead a protest to the Italian embassy to demand the release of “300 Nigerian youths in Italian prisons illegally”.

Osemwengie-Ero said the youths are imprisoned in Italy on false allegations of “mafia-related crimes”.

The former commissioner returned to Benin City, the Edo state capital, on Monday, after over a year of what he described as “wrongful detention” in Italy.

Osemwengie-Ero said he is a victim of racial discrimination and manipulation of the Italian justice system as he was arrested and detained by the Italian government while on an official visit to Germany in 2019.

“We have over 300 Nigerian youths in Italian prisons illegally arrested and incarcerated for false allegations of mafia-related crimes,” Osemwengie-Ero said.

“I have a list of all of them and I am making contact with their families; I made a promise to them that they will not be forgotten.

“We will campaign against the corrupt Italian Justice system and I am going to lead a protest to the Italian Embassy within the next four weeks.

“The justice system in Italy is complex and corrupt and they manipulate the justice system because they know nobody cares about Nigerians.”

Osemwengie-Ero denied the allegations that he was arrested and detained on money laundering charges involving Godwin Obaseki, the Edo state governor.

“My arrest and detention had nothing to do with the governor or Government of Edo State, though I was on an official trip to Germany for the return of the stolen artifacts,” he said.

“The arrest had nothing to do with money laundering. I wonder why people will say I was arrested with $2 million in my pocket or suitcase for the governor.

“The governor is too big for that as he was already rich before he became governor of the state, he is an investment banker and can’t do that; that was primitive politics.”